Church kneeler



June 22, 1965 A. M. JACOB] 3,190,695

CHURCH KNEELER Fild 'July 22, 1963 2 Sheets- Sheet 1 IN VENTOR im 0 M. JACOB/ 3- W W ATTORNEYS June 22, 1965 A. M. JACOB! 3,190,695

CHURCH KNEELER Filed July 22, 1963 INVENTOR.

4/e/vo M. JA 0012/ BY F IE| afl 4 TTORNL' V5 2 Sheets-Sheet each excursion and to each end position and thus avoid all irritating anddisturb- 3,190,695 CHURCH KNEELER Arno M. Jacobi, Belmont, Califi, assignor to Walter Jacobi & Sons, Inc., Belmont, Caiifga corporation of California Filed July 22, 1963, Ser. No. 296,667

9 Claims, (Cl. 297-426) a In my co-pending United States patent application Serial Number 101,556 Kneeler, noW PatentNo. 3,107,1'22'1 have provided con trol means for the swinging movement of the kneeler designed to slow down the movement toward the end of cause the kneeler to land softly in Kneelers of this character are usually mounted with freedom of swinging movement between an active horizontal position and an inactive upright position. During the church services it becomes necessary from time to time, to swing the kneelers from one end position to the other, and vice versa.

Since the conventional kneelers are freely swingable, they land in each end position with a thump or thud, and this noise spreads through the entire congregatiomcauses confusion and distracts from the solemnity of the occasion;

In my prior application, I have used spring means arranged in such a manner that it is placed under tension by the first one-half of the swinging movement and is released during the second half tourge the kneeler toward end position, the spring means having means associated therewithto slow down the ,second-halfof the swinging movementand to cause the kneeler to softly land in the end position. While this system is eminently satisfactory for the purpose of eliminating noise,fcertain otherimprovements are desirable in a kneeler, and the present application relates to such improvements.

For example, a certain amount of force is required'to lift the kneeler against the force of gravity when moving it to an out of the way position, and it is; desired to reduce the lifting of the kneeler. The initial force is also increased because the springs of the control means must be compressed during the first part of the operation. In addition, it has been found in practice that there is tendency for the kneeler to jerk to someextent as it passes the dead center position and the spring action is released. 7

Accordingly, it is a primary object of this invention to provide a kneeler of the character described which is easier to operate so that largerjkne elers may be provided, if desired, and so that the operation may beperformed Withreduced distraction to the service.

Another object of the invention is the provision of an improved kneeler incorporating a control means in which a spring is compressed during the first part of the operating cycle and released during last part thereof together. with means for driving the unit past-the dead center position and providing a smoother operation.

Further objects and advantages of my invention will appear as the specification proceeds, and the new and novel features of my church kneeler Will be fully defined in the claims attached hereto.

The preferred form of my invention is illustrated in filed April 7, 1961entitled Church force in order to, facilitate operation,

United States Patent secured upon the bench at in FIGURES 3 and 5.

Each plate 27 has a second post 29 proiecting there- A Patented June 22,1965

section taken in the plane'of line 3-3 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4, a fragmentary horizontal section taken in the plane of line 44 of FIGURE 3; FIGURE 5, a vertical section as seen in the plane of line 5-5 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 6, a cross-sectional view taken in the line 66 of FIGURE 5;

\ FIGURE 7, an enlarged view of a portion of FIGURE 6 illustrating in greater detail the fluid control utilized in the invention; and

FIGURE 8, an enlarged fragmentary view of a portion of FIGURE S iIlustrating an alternative construction of the piston. r

While I have shown only the preferred forms of my invention, it should be understood that various changes or modifications may be made within the scope of the claims hereto attached, without departing from the spirit of the invention,

Referring to the drawing in detail, FIGURE 1 illustrates the general arrangementrin rear view, a church bench 11 having two aligned sections 12 and 13,, With end supports 14 and 16, a middle support 17 and a common back 18 stretching through the full length of the bench 11.

The kneelers, one for each-section, are shown at 19 and 21, each comprising an elongated cushion ZZeXtending through the full length of each section, three legs 23 for each section adapted for supporting the cushion horizontally behind the bench, at an elevation suitable for kneeling and a pair of end brackets 24 fitting inside the end pieces of each bench section and pivoted thereto by means of posts 26 projecting sidewise from plates 27 a suitable height, by means of screws 28, preferably on from in parallel relation to and a desired distance above, and preferably forwardly of the post 26. This second post serves as a stop for the inclined upward position and contains an impact member 3:1 to help cushion any shock. a

The structure thus far described is substantially conventional and allows the kneeler to swing, on the post as, from the horizontal position shown in the right-hand section of FIGURE 1 to the upright position shown in the left section of FIGURE 1, in .which'position' the entire kneeler is disposed Within the confines of the bench preferably on a forward incline.

In prior known kneelers, when the kneeler is swung from the upward position to the horizontal position, the legs 23 hit the floor With considerable force, because there is nothing to interfere with the downward movement. And, when the kneeler is swung upward into its out-of-the-way position, inside the bench, the brackets 24 strike the posts 2? with considerable force, because the kneeler again is on its downward course, having passed a vertical position, and because of momentum from the force applied by the user. i

Thus, each move of the kneeler is accompanied by a forward incline, as shown this objectionable noise is substantially eliminated by providing a control for the kneeler movement whereby the kneeler is made to approach each of the end positions at a slow pace and to soften its final engagement with the stop, such as the floor or the post 29, to such an extent that the engagement becomes inaudible.

Although the control is eminently satisfactory for the purpose of solving the noise problem, the actuation of the control causes an additional force requirement when lifting the kneeler. The present invention overcomes this problem by providing resilient means 32 to assist the lifting operation, which means also cooperate with the control so as to improve its operation.

In general, the resilient means may be any device capable of providing a torque force opposed to the force of gravity on the kneeler when the kneeler is in a horizontal position. Preferably the resilient means will act over the entire rotational range of the kneeler and urge the kneeler against the posts 29 when it is in the upward position.

The resilient means should also provide a force which is maximum at the horizontal position and minimum at the upright position. Accordingly, I prefer to use a spring means such as leaf spring 33 for the purpose (see FIGURES 4 and As here shown, the leaf spring is mounted on base 34 of post 26, and is positioned to transfer its force to arm 36 and thence to bracket 24. As best seen in FIGURES 4 and 5, arm 36 has one end attached to bracket 24 by means of screw 37 and has its other end containing a hub 38 journaled for rotation on base 34. The leaf spring 33 has one end 39 bent and held in slot 41 of hub 38, and the other end 42 bent and held in one of the slots 43 of the base 34. In this way, rotational movement of bracket 24 and its associated arm 36 winds up spring 33 and the unwinding force of the spring tends to cause rotation of the bracket.

Preferably the tension in spring 33 is adjustable, and this is achieved by providing a plurality of slots 43 in base 34. Alternatively, a plurality of slots 41 could be provided in hub 38 or in both the hub and the base. The use of a spring is advantageous because it is durable, relatively inexpensive and reliable in operation.

The control means consists of a cushioning element 44, which is illustrated in detail in FIGURES 5 through 8. This element comprises a cylinder 46 having a piston 47 reciprocable therein, with a spring 48 inside the cylinder and hearing at one end on the closed end 49 of the cylinder and at the other end upon the piston. The piston has a connecting rod 51 extending through the other closed end 52 of the cylinder.

The'cylinder is filled with a fluid 53, and the piston is formed with a relatively narrow passage 54 having one or more restricted openings 56 so that any movement of the piston in the cylinder is accompanied by a certain movement of the fluid through the passage, which naturally slows down and checks the piston movement. As best seen in FIGURE 7, the passage 54 is in communication with a chamber 57, which contains a ball check 58. This check provides the restricted opening 56 when in the closed position as illustrated in FIGURE 7 and a relatively large passage when moved out of seat 59. As best seen in FIGURE 6, each restricted opening 56 may be formed by one or more slots in seat 59.

FIGURE 8 shows an alternate form of passage in which passage 54a is divided into two chambers 57a each having a ball check 58a. A restricted opening is provided in each chamber by constructing the device so that the halls make an imperfect scat. However, it will be appreciated that slots similar to those in the embodiment of FIGURES 5 through 7 or that the openings 56 in the main embodiment could be formed by incomplete seating of the ball check 58. The advantage of the form shown in FIGURE 8 resides in the fact that if one opening gets plugged, the other one will continue to operate until the material plugging the opening works loose.

The end 49 of the cylinder is closed with a plug 61 which is swaged into or otherwise held in the cylinder, and the plug is constructed to revolvably fit on a pin 62 which is held in a housing 63 on the bracket 24 underneath the cushion 22, that is, at a considerable distance from the post 26 on which the bracket swings.

The free end of the rod 64 of piston 47 also is bored to receive a pivot pin 66 which is held within a U-shaped member 67 on an arm or extension 68 projecting from the plate 27. In this way a pivotal support for the cushioning element 44 is arranged at an angle substantially midway the range of the swingingmovement of the kneeler.

In fact, the support pivots for the cushioning element are positioned so that when the bracket is swung upward from the full-line position shown in FIGURE 3, the entire cylinder 18 is free to swing past dead center (see first dotted line position) to line up with the pin 66 and to leave a certain amount of play for the plunger within the cylinder.

In operation Starting with the position indicated in FIGURES 3 and S, with the kneeler cushion in horizontal position, the spring 48 in the cylinder is only under slight compression. However, the leaf spring 33 is under maximum tension, and this assists the operator in lifting the kneeler. As the kneeler is lifted and the cylinder 46 swings about pin 66, the piston 47 is forced into the cylinder, placing the spring under greater compression, and at the same time, forcing a certain amount of fluid through the opening in the piston. In this action, the fluid pushes the ball check or checks out of their seats and fluid is free to move through the piston.

This operation continues until the cylinder reaches a dead center-line position, that is, in alignment with the pin or pivot 66. At this point the spring in the cylinder is under maximum pressure.

As the cylinder passes dead center, the spring expands and now works in combination with leaf spring 33 to crowd the kneeler into its most forward position, as shown in the second dotted-line position in FIGURE 2, where the bracket comes to rest against the post 29.

During this forward drive the advancing piston has to crowd a certain portion of the fluid in the cylinder through the piston in a direction that seats the ball checks and leaves one or more restricted openings for the fluid to pass through. This slows down the piston movement, particularly toward the end where the tension of the spring lessens, so that the bracket 24 lands softly, and almost imperceptibly, against the post 26.

In reverse movement, the same action takes place except that the kneeler operates against leaf spring 33, with the weight of the kneeler overcoming this action during its downward swing. The kneeler is drawn back manually until the cylinder 46 passes dead center, when the springs take over, subject to control by the fluid passing through the restricted openings, and gently lands the kneeler on the floor without any perceptible noise.

While the kneeler passes dead center, there seems to be a certain hesitancy, due to the reversal of the spring action and the reversal of the fluid flow through the aperture 25, in continuing its movement in the desired direction instead of reversing it. However, by making use of leaf spring 33 and the weight of the kneeler, the force of the spring in the cylinder is reduced, and the operation becomes smooth. In fact, in some cases it is believed that spring 48 might be completely eliminated. However, in its preferred form, the device does contain a spring to hold the kneler more firmly in each end position.

My church kneeler, in its utilitarian nature, is sturdy in construction, quiet in movement, inconspicuous, economical in manufacture and easy to install. In addition, it provides a construction which gives a long useful period of operation with little or no servicing.

It is apparent that I have invented a church kneeler which will greatly enhance the peaceful and solemn stillness within thechurch sanctuary, which is conducive to meditation and prayer and permits uninterrupted worship by the congregation and quiet for the message of the priest or minister to be absorbed and understood.

I claim:

1. A kneeler pivotally mounted for swinging movement between two end positions including upward movement from a normally substantially horizontal position, comprising spring means associated with the pivotal mount of the kneeler biased to urge the kneeler toward the upward end position at all locations of the kneeler, said spring means urging the kneeler upward from its horizontal position with a force less than the gravitational force of the kneeler, control means operable for damping the movement of the kneeler toward each end position and said control means containing a fixed support located within the angle of swinging movement, and a spring mounted between a pivotal mounting on the kneeler and a pivotal mounting on said support whereby the spring is placed under pressure by the kneeler. during the first part of the kneeler movement and the spring pressure is released beyond the dead center position for driving the kneeler during the second part of the movement at a controlled rate, with fluid means cooperating with the spring in controlling the rate.

2. The kneeler defined in claim 1, in which the control means also comprises a cylindrical housing surrounding the spring, a piston slidable within the housing and having a piston rod extending to a pivotal end of the control means, the housing being closed at both ends and having a fluid therein, and the piston having a restricted passage allowing fluid to pass therethrough at a slow rate in response to Spring pressure.

3. The kneeler defined in claim 2, in which the restricted passage through the piston contains means for controlling the size of the passage so that the passage is larger when fluid is moving therethrough during compression of the spring than when the spring is released and forces fluid through the piston.

4. A kneeler comprising a knee supporting surface, a bracket allowing the kneeler to swing between a substantially horizontal position and a forwardly inclined upright position, spring means carried on the bracket biased to urge the kneeler toward the forwardly inclined upright position, said spring means urging the kneeler upward from its horizontal position with a force less than the gravitational force of the kneeler, a first fixed support carried on the bracket substantially midway of the angle of swinging movement of the kneeler, a second fixed support carried on the bracket near the kneeler, and control means extending between said first and second fixed supports and pivotally attached to each support for damping the movement of the bracket while approaching each end position; said control means including a fluid-tight cylinder, a connecting rod extending through one end of the cylinder and having a piston movable within the cylinder, a fluid within the cylinder, and a fluid control mechanism in the piston allowing fluid to move rapidly in one direction through the piston and slowly in the opposite direction through the piston.

5. The kneeler defined in claim 4, in which the fluid control mechanism includes a restricted passage through the piston and means for controlling the size of the passage.

6. The kneeler defined in claim 4, in which the fluid control mechanism includes a plurality of passages and check means for changing the sizes of these passages between two limits.

7. A device swingably mounted for movement between a substantially horizontal and an upright position, comprising a pair of support brackets on which the device is swingably mounted, a fixed support carried on each of said brackets and extending into a position within the path of swinging movement of the device, spring means carried on each bracket biased to urge the device toward the upward position, :and a control means on each bracket extending between the fixed support on the bracket and a fixed position on said device; said control means including a fluid-tight cylinder, a connecting rod extending through one end of a cylinder and having a piston movable therein, a fluid within the cylinder, and a fluid contral mechanism in the piston allowing fluid to move rapidly in one direction through the piston and slowly in the opposite direction through the piston.

8. The device defined in claim 7, inwhich the control means also includes a spring carried within the cylinder for urging the control means into the extended position, and the fluid control mechanism is adapted to provide a small passage when the piston is moving in the direction corresponding with that which releases the spring energy.

9. The device defined in claim 7, in which the fluid control mechanism includes a plurality of passages and check means for changing the size of these passages depending upon the direction of fluid flow.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,806,356 5/31 Lynn et a1. 137- 512.1 2,460,791 2/49 Bernhard 297-426 2,949,625 8/60 Guyer 16-52 3,062,525 11/62 Schutmaat 137 513.5 3,107,122 10/63 Jacobi 297-426 FRANK B. SHERRY, Primary Examiner. 

1. A KNEELER PIVOTALLY MOUNTED FOR SWINGING MOVEMENT BETWEEN TWO END POSITIONS INCLUDING UPWARD MOVEMENT FROM A NORMALLY SUBSTANTIALLY HORIZONTAL POSITION, COMPRISING SPRING MEANS ASSOCIATED WITH THE PIVOTAL MOUNT OF THE KNEELER BIASED TO URGE THE KNEELER TOWARD THE UPWARD END POSITION AT ALL LOCATIONS OF THE KNEELER, SAID SPRING MEANS URGING THE KNEELER UPWARD FROM ITS HORIZONTAL POSITION WITH A FORCE LESS THAN THE GRAVITATIONAL FORCE OF THE KNEELER, CONTROL MEANS OPERABLE FOR DAMPING THE MOVEMENT OF THE KNEELER TOWARD EACH END POSITION AND SAID CONTROL MEANS CONTAINING SA FIXED SUPPORT LOCATED WITHIN THE ANGLE OF SWINGING MOVEMENT, AND A SPRING MOUNTED BETWEEN A PIVOTAL MOUNTING ON THE KNEELER AND A PIVOTAL MOUNTING ON SAID SUPPORT WHEREBY THE SPRING IS PLACED UNDER PRESSURE BY THE KNEELER DURING THE FIRST PART OF THE KNEELER MOVEMENT AND THE SPRING PRESSURE IS RELEASED BEYOND THE DEAD CENTER POSITION FOR DRIVING THE KNEELER DURING THE SECOND PART OF THEA MOVEMENT AT A CONTROLLED RATE, WITH FLUID MEANS COOPERATING WITH THE SPRING IN CONTROLLING THE RATE. 